Feb. 6, 2007 issue
I came here as a student in the fall of 1999. I picked EMU because it
was close to home (Bluffton, Ohio), but just far enough away that I could
feel like I was away for school. Also, Eastern Michigan was an easy pick
because I had earned a Regents Scholarship as well.
One day, out of the blue, and I say that because I really hadn't any
idea about what I really wanted to do, I heard about a position here in
Sports Information. I saw it on the Web site, and had a chance to meet
with both John Martin (who was the assistant here at the time) and Jim
Streeter (Sports Information director), and I've been here ever since.
I started low before moving up the ranks, and then I interned for about
a year before getting hired full-time in 2003. I really
don't know anything other than the EMU way. I still have
challenges, such as when we have multiple games. I have
to do the game notes and programs, and I have items to
proof, but the rewards are great. When you get a chance
to see the things that you were a part of — the women's
basketball team when they celebrated their championship
— there's nothing else like it.
This school is like a second home. The department, the student-athletes
and new endeavors, such as working on the Web site and
making a good thing even better; they're all things I couldn't
get somewhere else. I'm especially proud of the Web site
and, with the current plans to redevelop and re-launch
the site, it's just going to get even better.
Here, you can make a difference. People go out of their way to help each
other and make the University better. We have a lot of
advantages here that I think a lot of people aren't aware of. We have
a lot of untapped potential. I just wish more people could
actually come here and see it for themselves.
I can see myself one day running a sports information office, either
here or somewhere else. I'm not ready to totally be the
guy in charge here, but I do see myself here for the foreseeable
future.
